


Liberate me

by astraliix



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Angst, F/M, It will be very angsty as the chapters progress, More like really loyal to Hawkmoth kind of but different, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, Slow Burn, You just have to read it to understand, but with a twist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-01-30 04:53:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12646485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astraliix/pseuds/astraliix
Summary: Being the most well known guy in Paris, of course it was expected to be noticed by your fans, no doubt. Though, there was always something particually strange about that girl Marinette, and Adrien couldn't put his finger on it. It wasn't the usual shy, embarrassed, high pitched screaming fan that he was used to. But rather, she seemed so... Distant, really, her whole appearance was weird in general.Since then, it made him wonder about the truth behind that hidden mask of hers.





	1. Chapter 1

You know those good days where everything's going your way and you have this calm peace in your mind with no worries nagging behind your back? Well, that was something Adrien was not having today.

"Crap, Crap, Crap, Crap, Crap, Crap, Crap, Crap! I'm going to be late!" Adrien said between each breath, hastily gripping the cold gray handle as he quickly trampled down the stairs, slightly jumbling against his feet between a couple steps. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he quickly adjusted his backpack as he sprinted down the street, exhaling sharp breaths.

The small black kwami makes its appearance as it flies out through the small opening from Adrien's bag, placing a wide grin on its face, obvious as to how amusing watching the young boy run for his life trying to get to school on time. "You know... this wouldn't be an issue if you'd just tell your dad to take you there." The Kwami's face puffed up with laughter as it held at the rim of the collar of Adrien's button down white shirt.

Adrien rolled his eyes, scoffing at the Kwami's answer "C'mon Plagg, you know I can't do that. If Dad finds out I've been secretly going to public school then he will literally kill me." It wasn't that Adrien... was hiding anything against his dad, per say. Lately, staying inside, locked in your room for half the day (besides photoshoots) was kind of... depressing. Sure, he was a boy that had everything he could ever ask for, but it doesn't mean that he was happy. If there's anything Adrien wanted, it was friends. But, of course that was the one thing his Dad would have never allowed for some god-forsaken reason. It wasn't fair, and each day Adrien sat beside the window, displaying the clear blue sky, what caught his eye in particular was the small body of students walking together from school, and every time it would just bring a slight twinge of resentment in his heart. How can he not have that kind of feeling? He had every right to feel like that, and he did something about it. So maybe... he did lie to his father about overworking for photoshoots and attending some sort of private school that he was offered to; when he really has been attending for public school for 7 hours each day. But his father didn't need to know that; and he hoped it will continue to stay like that.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, keep telling yourself that. But don't start crying when your Dad finds about this little secret you've been holding; besides being the great chat noir!" Plagg winked, laughing as Adrien groaned, his eyes narrowing in annoyance at the silly commentary.

"Well yeah, if you keep talking like that it might. It doesn't matter anyway; my dad is always busy, where ever he is..." Adrien mumbled at the end of the latter half of his sentence, swiftly shifting his movements left to right, trying to avoid tackling into other people as he pushed his way through the crowds that walked the streets of Paris. Adrien took another sharp turn to the right, he gazed his eyes forward, focusing on the view his eyes had set upon him. Within the view, there was something- well, a person that caught his attention. In front of him was a girl, around his age, with peculiar medium black-blue hair that fell behind her back, past her shoulders; she also wore a soft black dress that reached to her upper knees, along with these cute little flats that were topped with frilly tiny flowers, it looked expensive...and not only that, it just made her whole appearance very gloomy. What kind of person dresses in all black? Well, he'd seen a couple of people wear that kind of attire, but, the thing was that girl... that look didn't suit her... if that made sense. Another thing that Adrien had noticed was that she was looking at something, a building to be more precise. What was so special to that stranger about that building anyways? He never understood.

Strangely enough, the sight of the weird girl was becoming keener to his eyes, he was able to make up her small distinctive features in both her profile, and the little black dress she was wearing. That's when it hit him.

Oh.

Adrien fell to the ground as he bumped into the girl, dropping all his belongings to the ground, near the glimpse of his eye, he noticed Plagg flying directly back inside his bag, hiding himself from the potential risk of others finding out about him. Adrien picked himself up from the ground, adjusting himself before he reached his hand out to the girl, offering to lift her up. "Hey... miss I'm so sorry! I should have watched where I was going. Here, let me help you up." he said, seeing as the girl hesitantly lifted her hand, softly gripping her hand with his, as he pulled her up from the ground. The touch of her soft hands was... cold... way too cold for the liking, it felt like he was touching ice. It made him wonder why they were like that, but the question never happened to come out of his mouth.

"There you go, again, I'm really sorry for bumping into you miss..." He paused, allowing his sentence to drag out, in hopes that she would give him a name. In honesty, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious about the girl's name. There was something he was curious about and yet he couldn't grasp it no matter how much he'd thought about it.

"...Don't worry about it..." The girl shook her head, dismissing his indirect question. Her voice sounded very distant, cold and yet... fragile he couldn't really explain it in words. He couldn't really see her face either, actually. The only thing he was able to make out was soft pink lips that looked so... stale, kind of an off-pink hue, along with freckles that were painted on her face. Her eyes though, was a different story, it was the feature he was most curious about and he couldn't make them out. Her eyes were covered with thick bangs that made it impossible to see them and her expressions, really. He was only able to catch a glimpse of blue underneath that nest of hair. So, she had blue eyes... interesting.

"Ah... yeah..." Adrien said, as he his head nervously, feeling the awkward tension arising between the two. He noticed her glaring at him with an unusual aura he couldn't describe. It was hard to tell when he couldn't see her face clearly. "If that's all you're going to say, I'll be going now." She said bluntly as she picked up a couple pink boxes from the ground that read 'laduree', she walked past the blonde, heading down the street before becoming mixed and disappeared within the crowd.

Adrien stood still, repeating in his mind the incident that happened not too long ago. He didn't really know what happen, and honestly, he couldn't describe it either, but if there was one thing he could say was that girl.... that girl was very strange... There's a lot of people (his fans) that Adrien has met some time throughout his life and it was always the same usual typical attitude he would always see, but there was something different about this girl in particular; she seems so unfazed, with everything. There was nothing that screamed emotion inside that body of hers, it was like she was just a living puppet and only speaks when she needs to. What made her become like that?

The Kwami quickly popped out of Adrien's bag again, turning back, staring blankly in daze where the strange girl had walked off, then turned to Adrien with an unknown expression on its face. "Adrien, I felt a bad aura surrounding that girl." Plagg whispered, carrying a lot of caution in its words.

"Haha very funny Plagg." Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Adrien please don't play me, I'm being serious right now." Plagg said in a stern tone. It was very unusual to hear the Kwami acting like this from his regular playful attitude; somehow it was starting to give him goosebumps.

"What? Are you saying that she's Akumatized or something?" Adrien whispered.

"That's what I thought at first, but when you took ahold of her hand, I didn't sense any sign that she's Akumatized... at this moment anyways." Plagg tipped its mouth with its paw, pondering over the piece of information he sensed out.

"What are you trying to say Plagg? Doesn't that mean it's gone? Adrien asked questionably.

"I don't think it's gone, though. It's in her but it's not there at the same time. I think... she's Akumatized but it's been deactivated, for a very long time it seems..." Plagg answered.

"How can that make any sense tho-" Adrien was cut off by the sound of his alarm coming off, he lifted up his wrist, seeing the time that read '8:50 am'. School was already starting.

"We can talk about this later Plagg; I'm already going to late!" Adrien said as he turned his alarm off, continuing to run down the street from where he left off with the only thought in his mind besides being late, was that strange girl.

-

"Late again, Adrien." Ms. Mendeleiev spoke with venom in her voice, irritated at the fact how often Adrien came to class late. (by a minute)

Adrien scratched his head, reverting his eyes to the ground due to embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! Some things happened earlier this morning that I had to take care of." Well, it wasn't exactly a lie. He would have gotten there in time if it wasn't for that strange encounter with that girl. But, there was no use in telling her that information anyways, she was already mad and giving that truth as the reason would just irate her even more. So, there was no problem holding that piece of information to himself, right?

"Well then, I'll excuse you, but if this happens again I'll be calling your parents. Do you understand?" Ms.Mendeleiev gazed at the blonde with a stern expression.

Adrien gulped, he felt his hands slightly sweating at thought of his Dad finding out about this. There was no way he could let that happen. Yet, the classroom was silent and it sort of eased him a little bit; fortunately. "Yes, m'am." He nodded his head, before walked towards his seat, sitting himself down next to his loud loving best friend.

"Anyways, back to our lesson..." Ms.Mendeleiev rabbled off again, turning towards the board as she picked up an expo marker, writing equations on the board as she explained step by step on how to solve them. Adrien leaned his chin against the palm of his hand, trying to position himself to focus his attention at the lesson that was displayed in front of him. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't bring himself to focus, the only thing that was filling his mind right now was that girl. The soft, yet cold touch of her hands that still ghostly linger against his fingertips. He couldn't help the questions that kept coming to his mind the more he thought about her; he wondered what that girl was doing, and where was she right now. More importantly, why was she like that? There was no way anyone just naturally acts like that, there was definitely something about this girl that must have happened. Whatever it is,

Plagg was right when he said that something wasn't right about her. He wasn't sure whether if she was just shy, or maybe it is something bigger than that but perhaps if she'd let him... he could help her... It wasn't that strange to think about those things about a stranger, right? Maybe he wasn't feeling well today.

Adrien jolted from his seat when he felt someone tapping his shoulder, he turned to notice that Nino was looking at him with concern. "Are you okay dude? You seem totally out of it today." He whispered, it was kind of a little too loud to be a whisper.

Adrien shyly smiled. "Thanks for worrying Nino. I've just been thinking about a lot of things that's all." he whispered.

"It's not about your Dad again, is it? C'mon he's never going to find out." Nino said as he laughed quietly, lifting his hand, patting his shoulder in attempt to his friend down.

Adrien shook his head. "No, it's not about my Dad this time... it's..." He thought whether he should tell Nino about that girl he ran into this morning. But, he felt that now wasn't the time to say such things, mostly because he really didn't want to hear Nino pestering him who that "special" girl like he always does and try to set him up on dates, not that he'll be able to date them (due to his dad), and none of them really interested him anyways. If it comes to the point he'll have to explain things then he will, and that's what Adrien agreed on. "Just I haven't been getting enough sleep lately." He lied.

Nino rolled his eyes, obvious that he didn't buy his answer. "Dude, you can't fool me I'm your best friend. But, if you don't wanna tell me anything then that's fine, I'll respect that. But you gotta get some fresh air dude, your super tense! Walk around somewhere." He rambled.

"Nino, you know I can't do that..." Adrien mumbled. "My Dad will-" he was cut off.

"'My Dad' Blah Blah Blah! Whatever, just say you're going to the zoo with Chole or something, you know he won't oblige to that." Nino said, grabbing a piece of gum from his pocket, opening the wrapper as he popped it in his mouth. "I know we can't do much because of your strict Dad, but I'm really worried about you dude. You just seem like you need to relax."

Adrien turns towards Chole's direction, seeing as the blonde winked at him. She had probably heard them. Great.

Adrien sighs "I guess, but only because you suggested it." He smiles, punching Nino's shoulder lightly.

-

If there was one thing Adrien wanted to avoid going to was the zoo. It wasn't the zoo itself he hated, it was the fact that he had to go with chole. Not that there was anything wrong her it's just...

"Oh Adrien-kins! I'm so glad you choose me over all those other losers to go to the zoo with you! It's almost like we're going on a date!" Chole blinked her eyes cutely, puckering her lips.

Adrien chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah... as friends. I just need to r-" he was suddenly cut off my Chole's outburst.

"I know. That's why I'm here to make it all better for you sweetie! Now, c'mon where do you wanna go first? We can get some smoothies from that worker guy over there and sit on the bench- actually not that bench because it's filthy. But I can call Daddy to make it special for the both of us!" Chole persisted.

"Thanks, Chole but I'm not really hungry right now. I just want to look around and see the animals." Adrien replied.

Chole scrunched her nose. "And see those ugly things? No thanks! You can go by yourself if you wanna smell like one of them." She scoffed as she crossed her arms, sitting herself down on one of the chairs near the food court, pulling out her as she started texting.

"Thanks, Chole." Adrien smiled, before turning around, walking around the area aimlessly. He took a deep breath, taking everything in as he closed his eyes, feeling the warm rays of light hitting his skin. It felt good, just walking around without feeling the rush that you had to go somewhere, or have to be home at a certain time because your dad requires that out of you with a busy schedule that was already overwhelming. All of this felt good and he felt... free to an extent. Nino was right, with everything that's been happening right now, he did need to relax.

Adrien slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the view set in front of him, and that's when he felt his heart come to stop.

It was that girl again, expect she was wearing a faded pink dress, this time. The same mysterious medium long hair that hangs softly as she stared at the birds chirping; flying between branch from branch inside a giant cage. She stood there, staring dully at the flying creatures with no emotion shown on her face

Adrien was aware of what Plagg had mentioned earlier and he wasn't wrong either. She did have some kind of bad aura surrounding her but that sort of theory was just too hard to believe that she was Akumatized. Yeah, Plagg may have told Adrien to be aware with this girl but if she really was Akumatized then Paris would already be in chaos right now, but it wasn't. So, that can't be. She just must be shy; that's it. Before Adrien had even realized, he was already there, standing next to the mysterious lady. He wasn't sure why he did that, why he was even there in the first place. No matter how much the little voice in his told him to leave, he couldn't bring himself to, his feet was glued to the ground, his body feeling stiff all of the sudden. He felt his mind starting to buzz rather loudly in his head as his heart started to pulse unusually fast. Was he nervous?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard that quiet voice again.

"It's calming here..." She spoke dully, loud enough for him to hear, her eyes still attached to the sight in front of her.

Adrien froze, unaware of what he should say, he was usually never nervous when talking to others, so why was it so hard for him to talk now? She wasn't any different than the rest that he had interacted with.

With all the courage he had, he mustered himself to give a response back to the quiet teen "Yeah, it feels like I can just let go of everything for the moment." When Adrien turned to face the strange girl, he had noticed that she was staring at him, somehow, for a brief moment, he swore he saw a glimpse of emotion, a remorseful one displaying on her lips, but was soon overpowered by her stoic expression again. "What about you?" Adrien asked, trying to keep the conversation going as much as he was able.

The girl turned her focus back to the birds again as she lifted up her arm, pointing at them firmly. "No matter how high I fly, in the end I came to realize I'll never be able to be free from the cage that has been set for me for the rest of my life." She answered blankly, as she relaxed her arm against her side.

Adrien looked at her with concern. What kind of answer was that? Never in his life had he heard of anyone with that kind of answer and it really added on to his curiosity about the strange girl. Oddly, for some reason, he was able to relate to what the strange girl was saying. Those words... made sense in his mind, since he was little, he had always been restricted as to what he was able to do. It didn't matter what he wanted to do, his life was set and anything that was unrelated to what he was doing was strictly prohibited and he hated that. He wondered how similar the two really are. If she had parents that acted the same way as his, restricting her from all the fun things she could have done. Were her parents the reason why that strange girl was like that? He wanted to ask, though he never brought himself to say those words out in the open.

"Do you have a problem?" She asked blankly, her eyes piercing against his skin.

Adrien pulled himself out from his thoughts, bring himself back to reality. She must have noticed he'd been staring at her too long. "Oh! Um, no! I was... just curious what your name is." He said out of the blue. Somehow, he was wondered whether she would tell him or not.

"It's Marinette." She answered, her eyes still gazing against his, he felt goosebumps forming upon his skin again. So, the strange girl's name is Marinette, huh? It was a pretty name, it suited her very well.

"Marinette..." Adrien said aloud, feeling the foreign name rolling off from his tongue. He took a hold of her cold hands again, grasping them tightly with his. "Nice to meet you Marinette! My name is Adrien-" he was suddenly cut off.

"The model boy, right? I've seen you around before. I know who you are." Marinette answered blankly. Ripping her hands away from Adrien's, placing her hands inside the pockets of her black cardigan. "If that's all, then I'll be taking my leave now." She turns around, walking further and further away from the blonde.

Adrien watched in disbelief as he watched the stran- no, Marinette walking away from him. It felt, cold, the way she left, and it brought the same kind resentment every time he'd see other people have the things that he couldn't. He didn't want her to go, he had just found out her name and here she was, going and disappearing to who knows where. Whether he knew it or not, he strangely found Marinette to be very interesting. It felt like he was just starting to know her, the one that was hidden inside that large façade of hers, even if it was something as little as her name. "Wait!" He called out, watching as Marinette stopped her steps, turning around facing his direction.

Adrien pressed his lips firmly before he decided to speak. "Will we meet again? Do you attend any school around here?"

"I never went to school before." That was the last thing Marinette had said before she turned around, as she continued to walk forward without looking back, never seeing the slight dissatisfaction that was placed on Adrien's face.

When Marinette was nowhere to be found, Plagg made his appearance again when he flew out of his jacket. It was clearly obvious that Plagg was pretty upset. "What were you thinking?! You could have gotten yourself in danger! You don't remember what I said that she could probably be Akumatized?!" Plagg exclaimed.

Adrien bit his lip, "Yeah I remember. But I wasn't harmed or anything. It's not a big deal." The way Plagg was unusually acting in this kind of situation regarding with Marinette was sort of making him slightly concerned.

Plagg groaned out of frustration. "Look, I'm not saying this to hold you back like your Dad; I'm saying this for your protection. You don't know what kind of person she is, or what she does, or where she lives for that matter. I'm not getting a good vibe from her Adrien and You're just hurting yourself the more you get involved with her."

"Maybe I can help her..." Adrien muttered, he looked down towards the ground, processing the words that came to mind before he decided to finish his statement. "If she's Akumatized or not, I can help her. I mean, isn't that the duty of a superhero to care about the lives of others?" He questioned.

Plagg sighed "Whatever. If you don't want to listen to me then, fine. Do what you want, but don't say I warned you."

Adrien rolled his eyes "Yeah, yeah you don't have anything to worry about."

-

"You came back late Marinette." Hawkmoth stated, watching as Marinette entered the room quietly, holding a tray that carried two cups of tea. She sets the tray down on the table, taking ahold of one of the cups from the tray, walking towards the older man as she placed the cup down on his desk. "I've made your tea the way you like it Hawkmoth." She replied, gazing her cold eyes on her fingers as she fidgeted her thumbs at a slow pace.

Hawkmoth delicately picked up his cup with his fingers, placing the tip of his cup between his lips as he took a couple sips, tasting the bittersweet lemon that was aroused from the tea. "It's delicious, as expected Marinette." He gives a dark smile, setting the cup down on the table, clasping his hands together as he started at her with ominous eyes. "So, where were you that made you so late? You know I don't like secrets." He asked firmly.

Marinette shifted her eyes towards the older man, replying without a second thought. "Someone was conversing with me."

Hawkmoth raised a brow from her response. "Oh?"

"He asked whether I went to school." She added on, showing a slight glimpse wavering in her expressions but was covered up by her stoic persona.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Could it be that you want to attend to school like all the other kids?" Hawkmoth asked, leaning his body forward, examining the young girl's features. Marinette continued to stare back at him, a word not even escaping her lips.

"So, you do. That's fine, I'll allow you to attend. Only because you've been very good to me Marinette." He watched as the girl's shoulders seem to tense a little bit less. "You'll know what would happen if you disappoint me, right Marinette?" His eyes narrowed.

Marinette nodded. "Yes Hawkmoth."

Hawkmoth stood up from his seat, stretching his arm out as he reached towards Marinette, pushing her bangs away from her face, revealing her soft, gloomy, cold, dark eyes. It looked like there was no sign of life remaining in there. "Why don't you show your eyes more? You look better like that."

Marinette nodded, her eyes never changing a single expression.

"Yes Hawkmoth..."


	2. Chapter 2

It was Saturday, and cold.

Adrien slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the scene of the cold empty silence in his bedroom. It was the same thing, every day, no matter how much he would try to cover up that silence by distracting himself with the multitudes of activities he was given, by the end of the day the room would just automatically overflow with the same loneliness he felt this morning all over again.

He was tired of it.

Adrien pulled himself off from the bed as he walked towards the window, his sad green eyes gazing down at the crowds of people filling the gray canvas streets of Paris. Another day has passed by, and yet again, he felt his heart twitch slightly at the sight. He couldn't help being envy of those people, or really anyone that wasn't "him". They didn't have to worry about their next photoshoot, or being restricted from having friends because your career is at stake. Those strangers... they were able to do as they please, they weren't locked inside this cage like he was. He wished he had that little freedom, that freedom that all the other kids have. Adrien was tired of it, tired of being restricted, tired of being repressed, tired of his career. All he ever wanted was to escape this hole he's been in for a long time and just soar high to his heart's content; to do what he wanted, not his dad's. Maybe that was why he was so interested in that mysterious girl named Marinette, the way she was... it somehow reminded him of... him. Strangely.

Plagg flies out from Adrien's pocket, also, looking out the window along with him. "C'mon Adrien don't be so down! You're going to be able to go outside today!" He said aloud.

Adrien sighed "Yeah, for photoshoots Plagg, it's not the same feeling." That's the other thing that irritated him, the only time he was able to go outside was for anything related to his model career. It wasn't even fair, and even more so that there was nothing he could do about it.

There was a sudden knock on the door, causing Adrien to tense his shoulders a bit; Plagg on the other hand, hid himself inside Adrien's jacket. The blonde turned around, seeing as Natalie opened the door, walking herself in the room, she bowed, greeting Adrien with the same emotionless face.

"Natalie? What are you doing here?" Adrien questioned. It was unusual to see Natalie come to his room so early in the morning. It made him wonder the purpose of why she was here. Somehow, he felt a slight uncomfortable presence waver inside his body. Did he do something wrong?"

"Your Dad wants to see you outside." Natalie answered before she turned, making her way out of the room, hearing the faint clack of her heels hit the marble floors as she left.

Adrien stood there in confusion. His dad... wanted to see him? He wasn't sure how to feel about that, his dad never went to see him for any reason, really. Now he wanted to see him was just kind of a surprise for him, he wondered if his Dad found out about the little secret he has been hiding for a while now. He couldn't help but feel a pool of nervousness building up in his stomach. He shook the feeling away as he left the room and past the hallways, when he looked up, he noticed his Dad standing there, waiting for him with the same usual stern expression he always carries.

His Dad's eyes lighten up, noticing as Adrien was already standing there. He gave a rough smile, patting his son's head. "Good morning Adrien. How was your morning?" He asked.

Adrien shifted his eyes away, anywhere but his dad. Surprisingly enough, the one-time his dad showed any type of concern towards him, he was at a loss of words, he wasn't sure really what to say. Actually, his dad showing any concern at all was weird. How was he supposed to react to this? "I'm okay I guess... so, um, what did you need to see me for?"

"Just to eat breakfast with my son, is that so wrong?" His dad answered, turning around as he walked down the stairs, opening the doors as he headed to the kitchen. Adrien slowly followed behind him, trying to process the words his dad had said moments ago. He really wanted to eat with him...? He felt a slight trill build up inside. He wasn't sure why the feeling was there; his dad never gave him enough attention these days and he was often neglected inside that big room of his. He couldn't help himself, the one-time his dad gave any attention to Adrien, he wanted to grasp whatever he can from this moment as much as possible.

When Adrien entered the kitchen, he found his father, already siting down on the table. His dad lifted up his hand, motioning him to come and sit down. "Don't stand there, come here and sit." He said sternly.

"Oh... alright." Adrien answered as he quietly walked to his seat, sitting next to his father. The dining room was filled with an uncomfortable silence, the only sound that vibrated was the air conditioning that brought an unsettling cold aura around the two. The silence was broken when his father decided to speak.

"How's your private classes?"

Adrien jolted up slightly; trying to gather his words together. "It's... going well father..." He answered, somehow, he had a feeling that his father's sole intention wasn't focused on him. He felt his heart drop a little bit at the thought.

"I see." His father said aloud. He paused, allowing the silence to overwhelm the room again. He tapped his fingers against the table, hearing the faint sounds linger the room, killing the unbearable silence that Adrien wanted to get rid of. "I'm sure you've heard of the new bakery that opened down the street, Adrien?" His dad changed the topic all of the sudden.

He knew it.

"Uh... yeah. What about it?" Adrien questioned, his eyes leveling down to the ground, he felt his starting to hurt, feeling warm tears starting to come out. He bit his lip, trying to prevent himself from showing that sensitive side of him in front of his father.

"Have you seen anyone who's been loitering around there recently? Perhaps anyone young?" His dad asks, looking at him with a stern expression.

A flash of images comes to Adrien's mind. The only person that came to mind was Marinette, that strange girl he's been running into recently. Now that he thought about it, that building she was looking at... it was a bakery. Was there something special about that bakery that she was there, admiring it all the time? Why was his dad asking that kind of question? It was oddly specific and for some reason, Adrien had a feeling he shouldn't tell his dad about Marinette. "No, I haven't seen anyone in particular." Adrien lied.

His dad leaned his head down "I see..." He mumbled.

Adrien tilted his head in confusion. "So why did you ask anyways?"

"It ruins a business and scares away potential costumers when there are people loitering their place." His dad answered. He stood up from seat, pulling out $20 from his pocket as he placed it down on the table in front of Adrien. "How about you go there and treat yourself something to eat." His dad said, before exiting the kitchen, leaving Adrien alone in silence.

-

"I'm so sorry Adrien." Plagg said, trying to comfort him as much as he could. Adrien didn't really need comfort anyways, of course it was nice that the kwami showed some genuine concern for him but that cannot fix the amount of disappointment and hurt he felt towards his dad. He was used to this, so nothing mattered anyways.

"Don't worry about it Plagg. Things like that can't be helped." Adrien laughed, slowly walking down the street, admiring the view, everything. It wasn't often that Adrien was able to go outside that was aside from his career, so he was taking all of this as much as he could before he had to go back inside that lonely house of his.

Adrien took a turn down the street, wiping the tears that were starting to form from his eyes. He shook his head, trying to bring himself back to reality. He felt himself froze when he noticed Marinette a couple feet away from him, staring at the bakery with the same emotionless face except... he was able to see her eyes clearly now. Her bangs were pushed to the side, pulled up in a bun, revealing those emotionless, sad, cold eyes. It looked like... she was in pain, even then it was still hard to read her expressions clearly. She was back again with the same black attire, a black dress with black tights and shoes, and the outfit was wrapped up with a long pink cardigan. How long was she standing there?

He felt his heart sped up when he realized she was staring at him with no feeling. He was staring too long at her again. "Oh, um hey..." Adrien shyly waved, walking closer to the quiet teen.

Marinette only nodded, her eyes still focused on the blonde.

Adrien glanced at the bakery before looking back at the her. "I've heard it's a nice bakery here. Their desserts are really good." He said shyly, hoping to start a conversation with her.

Marinette turned towards the bakery, there was a slight foreign expression hidden in her eyes. "It is..."

"Well, I was planning to go there to get some actually. Do you want to join? I don't mind buying some for you." He said with a small smile.

"I'm alright." Marinette answered. She looked up towards the blonde, holding up a packet that held paperwork inside for Adrien to see it clearly. "I have things to do today."

Adrien blinked a couple times. "Oh! That's fine. I mean- I can accompany you if you'd like? If you need help getting somewhere or anything" He questioned.

Marinette stared at him dully before giving him a response. "Okay..." She sits herself down on one of the chairs outside the bakery, holding the packet tightly between her hands. "Go." She stated bluntly.

"Oh... Right!" Adrien said, as he entered in the bakery, feeling his heart stale a little bit from the lack of enthusiasm held in her words. He looked back, gazing at Marinette who was sitting quietly on the table, looking abroad at the scenery of the other citizens, walking past her as they did their normal everyday things. When he squinted, he noticed some sort of expression changed from her face, though, he couldn't see it as clearly as the trees and large plants were blocking his view.

"May I get your order sir?" The lady came up to him with smile.

Adrien turned, blinking his eyes a couple times. "Yes! I'd like half a dozen of Canelé please."

The lady nodded, heading to the back of room as she grabbed an empty pink box, grabbing each individual Canelé and placing it neatly inside the box before closing and sealing the box. She walked up towards Adrien, handing him the box as she pushed a couple buttons into the cash register. "That will be $8.50 sir."

Adrien handed her a twenty-dollar bill, seeing as the lady took the cash from his hand and placing it into the cash register, she took out a ten and one-dollar bill along with 50 cents and placing the remaining change in his hand. "That will be your change sir. Have a nice day!" The Lady smiled nicely.

"You too." Adrien smiled as he left the Bakery. When he looked forward he noticed that Marinette was already standing ready to go. He noticed her gazing her eyes at the box held within his hands, but quickly looked away.

"So... where are you going?" Adrien asked.

"I'm looking for a school to attend to." Marinette answered blankly, as they both started to walk down the street. "Do you know of any?"

"There's a school that I attend to that's a couple minutes by here. I can take you there." Adrien answered. The thought that Marinette planning to attend to go to the same school as him brought a light feeling inside his chest. In a way, it felt like Adrien was getting a little closer to her. Marinette... is such a quiet person, she is always closed off somewhere all the time and it made him wonder if she had any friends, he also wondered if she had any interests, it felt so unlikely just by looking at her.

"So, I'm guessing that packet your holding is for the school you're planning to attend?" Adrien asked, staring at the packet that Marinette was holding.

Marinette nodded, "Yeah, it has all the required information in it."

"Oh! That's great, your parents must be happy for you to attend school." Adrien said.

"I don't have parents." Marinette stopped walking as she turned around and walked closer to Adrien, her deep cold eyes staring intensely towards his vibrant green eyes.

There was a long silence between the two and Adrien was taken aback. He didn't know that her parents were...

"I'm so sorry..." Adrien said, trying to symphonize with the quiet the girl.

"I'm not worthy for your apologizes." Marinette replied, ignoring the blonde's apologetic sympathy. She leaned her body forward, closer to Adrien's ear as she whispered. "Because I killed them." Her voice sounded very strained, it was filled with some kind of remorse and it sounded disoriented and yet pleasant... She leaned back, taking a couple steps back as she turned around, walking up the stairs and entering inside the school, leaving the blonde boy alone with his thoughts.

Adrien stood there in shock. He was unable to process those words that Marinette had mentioned earlier. There was no way... it couldn't be, she didn't mean that... she actually killed her own family, did she? It was hard for Adrien to process that, it was just so hard to believe that someone so... fragile would commit some sort of act like that. The way she looked at him when she said those words... it looked like she was about to cry, the huge stoic expression she was holding... it was slightly breaking down. For someone who killed their own family... was showing so much remorse. He felt his mind wonder with many questions again, did that happen while she was Akumatized? He remembered Plagg mentioning a bad aura surrounding her, was it because the murder of her own parents? But even so, it strangely didn't feel like she was cause for this tragedy, but where it stands right now it's hard to believe that sort of thing was true.

Plagg immediately flew out from Adrien's jacket. "I told you that she had a bad aura surrounding her! Did you not just hear what she said earlier?" Plagg exclaimed.

"Yeah." Adrien said, as he quietly walked passed the school, taking a right down the street as he headed to the park.

"Yeah? That's it just 'Yeah'?" Plagg looked at him with disbelief.

"How do you know if that's true. Maybe if I can understand her more, I will find out the reason." Adrien said.

"After all of that and you're still going to chase after her?!" Plagg exclaimed, surprised at the complete stubbornness that Adrien was showing right now.

Adrien stopped his tracks, dazing at the scene in front him. The way Marinette looked, everything about her just seemed so... sad. Sometimes he wondered where that girl would go off to when she was not with him. What especially caught his attention was her eyes, the way her cold glassy eyes dropped, it looked so desperate, calling for something, for anyone. "It looked like she was calling for help..." He answered holding on to the box of desserts tightly, crumpling the edges of the cardboard tensely.

-

"Aye! You brought desserts!" Nino said excitedly, bumping his fist against Adrien's as the blond sets the box down on table, sitting himself down next to his friend.

"Oh yeah." Adrien said, gazing at the crumbled ends of the box that was crushed by his fingers. He was trying not to think about it, trying not to think about Marinette. He wanted to think about anything besides her, and it brought a large pang of headaches, pounding his head excessively.

"How did you manage to get out of house anyways?" Nino asked, curious that the blonde was out for a long excessive amount of time.

"Oh, I have a photoshoot in about an hour." Adrien said as he opened the box, grabbing a canelé out from it as he took a small bite from the dessert, savoring the sweet taste that tingled around his taste buds.

"Agh that blows dude!" Nino groaned, leaning against the wooden table with his elbow.

Adrien awkwardly laughs, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry Nino."

"No dude that's fine." Nino said as he adjusted his headphones on his neck, he narrowed his eyes, giving a well-known smirk on his face. Somehow Adrien was a little nervous on the next words that Nino was about to say.

"So, Adrien who was that girl you were hanging out with at the Zoo yesterday?" Nino asked, his smirk growing wider seeing as Adrien hesitated a little from the sudden question.

"What? What are you talking about...?" Adrien questioned, his words dying out at the end of his sentence. He felt his heart twisting inside his chest, why was he getting nervous over something like this.

"You know what I mean! That girl with the navy hair you were talking to at the Zoo. Is she your girlfriend?" Nino asked, wiggling his eyebrows as Adrien jolted from his seat.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Adrien shouted, he felt his cheeks plush with pink, pushing Nino away hastily at the foolish question his best friend was asking. "It's not like that..." He mumbled to himself, reverting his eyes away from Nino. He sat there for a minute, processing what was happening moments ago, realizing a certain factor that brought suspicion towards his friend. "Wait a minute... how did you know where I was at the Zoo? I never told you anything."

"I followed and found you."

"And you say that so easily?!" Adrien screeched.

"Well, I was going to talk to you but you were with that girl; I thought she was your girlfriend." Nino explained. He casually played with the wires of his headphones. "She's pretty cute though."

"I..." He stumbled upon his sentence. "That doesn't conclude anything Nino." Adrien spitted out, rolling his eyes, as he grabbed another treat from the box.

"Ooh getting defensive. Okay, sure, whatever you say~" Nino said slyly, wiggling his fingers, adding a dramatic effect.

Adrien flicked Nino on his forehead.

-

It was about early Afternoon when Adrien made it to his photoshoots. He entered inside the building, who was greeted by his photographer that motioned him to come in.

"Ah, Adrien you're here! Yes, yes come here let's get started, shall we?" His photographer said, taking ahold of Adrien's hand as he placed the young boy down on his seat. Adrien signed, taking a snapback hat from under his seat and putting it on his head, he frowned slightly at the fact that he had to be here for another hour taking useless pictures.

The photographer started to set up and assemble his camera, he looked up, noticing the blonde showing a huge dissatisfaction. "Adrien! What's with the face? You need to be happy."

Adrien shook his head, giving a shy smile towards the older man. "It's nothing."

His photographer looked at him with narrow eyes, Adrien knew he didn't believe him but the fact that his photos needed to be done was more necessary to worry about than his feelings; which was fine, really. "Alright, then can you lean yourself back and prop your arm up against the chair for me?" The photographer asked, adjusting his camera to the appropriate setting, with his other hand he waved a motion, trying to get him to hurry up.

Adrien adjusted to the certain position the photographer asked, he looked up towards the camera, his lips pulling up a fake smile.

The next thing he knew he was meet with loud flashy white lights from the cameras.

-

"Ah... What brings you back so early Marinette?" Hawk Moth askes, watching as Marinette enters the room quietly, holding a tray that carried two cups of tea. She sets the tray on the table, grabbing the cup from the left and placing it down on his desk in front of Hawk moth.

"I came back with your tea Hawk Moth." Marinette answered, her cold eyes watching as Hawk Moth gently lifts up the cup with his hands, tasting a peppermint smell dancing inside his mouth.

Hawk Moth sets the cup down, gazing his eyes towards the young girl with a questioning expression. "Did you go submit the packet to the school you're attending to?"

"I did a couple hours ago." Marinette answered.

There was a small moment of silence between the two, only hearing the faint sounds of butterflies swiveling around the room.

"Now why is that you decide to come home now?" Hawk Moth asked out of blue. Marinette continued to stand there, not moving an inch as she stayed quiet, staring at the older man with a slight kind of foreign expression on her face.

"Oh..." Hawk Moth spoke softly, looking at her with sympathetic eyes. "It couldn’t be that you went to visit 'there' could it?" He gave an unrhetorical question, seeing as Marinette's expression changed. "Oh, you poor thing... it must be so hard for you to see that huh?" He said, seeing as Marinette remained still standing at the same spot.

Marinette gazed at him with the same emotionless eyes. "If that's all, I'll be going to my room now." She turned around, walking further away from the man as she opened the door to her room, entering in as she closed the door behind her. She walked towards her bed, laying her body against the soft cushions of her pink pillows that consumed her head, it felt like she was laying on clouds. With her arm, she lazily reached for the lamp, pulling the string that turned her dark room into light that dimed the room slightly. She pulled her arm back, resting it upon the bed as she took a deep breath, with her other hand, she pulled a small photo out from her cardigan, examining the photo closely.

"Why are you so different?" Marinette asked softly, ghostly sliding her fingertips against the picture. She placed the picture down on her nightstand before closing her eyes, the dark completely filling her vision.

The picture that sat on the nightstand showed a photo of a certain blonde-haired individual.

-

By the time Adrien left the building, the blue skies his eyes were met earlier were now dyed with purple-ish-orange hues; It made the scenery outside look more pleasant than it usually would during the day. He dragged his feet against the ground, slowing walking back to his house as slowly as possible, could you really blame him? It was a long day for Adrien, there were too many things in his mind that he didn't want to think about right now and the last thing he'd want to be in is right back at that horrible hellhole house of his.

"Man, I'm really beat today." Adrien said, as he continued to drag his feet on the pavement of the sidewalk. His vibrant green eyes that were awake earlier today were now sullen and drowsy looking, he was tired and stressed, and laying down, taking a really long nap seemed so great right now.

Plagg timidly sat on his shoulder, examining the blonde before he looked down at his stomach, hearing a loud rumbling noise. "and hungry! I could really use some cheese right now." Patting his own stomach with his tiny paws.

Adrien snorted a laugh. "You never change. Always thinking about cheese all the time, huh Plagg?"

Plagg's eyes beamed with excitement "Well of course! I always have the most important things in mind." He said confidently and Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, whatever." Adrien walked up the stairs as he grabbed a small pair of keys out from his pocket and putting it inside the key holder, turning it to the left, hearing the door unlocked as he entered himself inside the house, only hearing the empty silence that vague the room so strongly.

"Yeesh!" Plagg said aloud as he looked around the area. "Is anyone living inside this house these days?"

Adrien sighed, walking up the stairs slowly as he opened the door, walking himself in his room before he closed the door completely. "It almost feels like it, doesn't it?" He said softly as he dropped himself on the couch, spreading his legs out, trying to feel comfortable. He closed his eyes, taking in the darkness that consumed his vision for only a brief moment; for once he didn't want to think about anything, he didn't want to think about his good for nothing Father, or his ridiculous modeling career, or his school, and even his friends he has made from there. He just didn't want to think about anything, for a moment, for just a small moment, all he wanted was some sort of calmness in his mind.

His thoughts were interrupted when he Plagg spoke to him. It was in that serious tone again and the more he heard it was starting to give him goosebumps crawling against his skin; it felt like he was being consumed by it. "About that Marinette chick..."

Adrien snapped his eyes open as he turned around, facing the kwami quickly in interest. Plagg was slightly taken aback, noticing the slight dim of his tired eyes were disappearing a little bit when he heard anything relating to Marinette was being discussed. It made Plagg wonder why Adrien was so interested in that girl. "What made you think she was 'calling for help'? You can't even read her expressions clearly."

Adrein looked at him with confidence. "I just kind of know; It felt like she was asking me to help her Plagg."

Here he goes again.

Plagg palms his face with his paw. "So, you're basically telling me you're going by intuition?"

"It's not exactly like that..." Adrien said, reverting his eyes away from the Kwami.

"So, it's exactly like that." Plagg said, unsatisfied with the blonde's answer.

It wasn't that Adrien was fully going by his own intuition; well, it just seemed so obvious from that girl that she was... in some sort of deep pain and she was desperate, from anybody. He noticed it more clearly, when saw those Marinette's stoic cold eyes waver earlier in the morning, those eyes, those cold, cold eyes, it felt like they were calling out to him, she was calling out to him... to help her. It was strange, in a way, he wasn't really sure how he had the feeling, it was just kind of there. There was something in his mind that kept nagging him about that girl and Adrien was going to do something about it. He wanted to do what he can in any way possible, if it can get her to stop portraying as... that kind of persona; It didn't suit her and it bothered him. If only he could find a way to understand her better, get to know who Marinette really was and really be close to her.

"I know what I saw Plagg..." Adrien said as he stood up from the couch, walking towards the window as he placed his hand against the glass, looking the crowds of people walking the streets of pairs that were illuminated by the city lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that sums up that chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter because there was a lot of stuff that happened lol and there will be more when the story progresses. 
> 
> Also, thank you guys so much for the kudos and comments, it really keeps me going want to continue the story! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I was bored so I basically vented out and wrote a bunch of stuff and viola this happened. I'm pretty new at angst so I guess in practicing that here but it will develop more as the chapters progress haha. Sorry if this chapter is short it's kind of the introduction I guess but it will develop pretty soon enough as the story goes 
> 
> Thanks for reading tho, kudos and comments are very appreciated :)


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